March 2013 Archives

An Oakdale man accused of shooting and killing a 9-year-old boy while firing at passing cars told investigators he did it because people had been waking him up by revving their engines, news sources reported.

Nhap Lap Tran, 34, was charged on Feb. 13 with six felonies, which included two counts of second-degree murder, according to the Pioneer Press.

Police found a note on Tran's desk that read, "Random Kill, Fake Plates," as well as the date "12/12/12" scrawled on his bedroom walls after they arrested him in February, the Pioneer Press reported.

Tran previously admitted to the shootings, but hadn't given a motive, according to Kare 11 news.

In the search warrant affidavit, Tran told investigators that "cars had been following him around for a while, and the persons driving the cars had been revving up their engines while parked in front of his house waking him up," and that is why he shot at the cars, the Pioneer Press reported.

The New York Times story on a Feb. 15 policy speech by Obama can be found here.

The reporter chose to focus her story on President Obama's policy speech in Chicago turning personal, as it is Obama's home state.

The lead was about Obama's personal comments and stories he made throughout his speech. The story then focused in on gun violence and the reporter mentioned the story of the teenage girl who was shot in Chicago a few days after Obama's inaugural parade, which the shooting victim participated in. The victim's parents were sitting in the crowd, the reporter said, and when Obama recognized them the reporter said there was an awkward applause.

The rest of the story was focused mainly on Obama's talks of gun violence, which was obviously the reporter's angle. I think the reporter did a good job of weaving in background information about gun violence, quotes from the president, and the crowd's reaction.

Six teenagers were killed and two others were injured after the SUV they were in flipped into a pond in northeast Ohio on Sunday morning, news sources reported.

Investigators say the Honda Passport hit a guardrail, flipped over into a pond, and sank with five passengers trapped inside, and a sixth was thrown from the SUV and found under it when the vehicle was removed from the water, according to the Associated Press.

The two survivors that escaped ran to a nearby home to call 911, USA Today reported.

The teens, ages 14 to 19, took the vehicle without permission, the Associated Press reported.

Police said the SUV was traveling over 70 mph when the driver lost control, according to USA Today.